Worth
by dien04neko
Summary: Reno is her boyfriend but the fact that Tifa only accepted him to get over somebody doesn't seem right at all...[AU][ReTi][Chapter2up..]
1. Act One: Get Real

**Worth**

dien04neko

_Disclaimer: I disclaim Final Fantasy VII and its characters. (Unfortunately) They are not mine---because they belong to Square©._

Summary: Reno is her boyfriend but however intimate they are, the fact that Tifa only accepted him to get over somebody doesn't feel right at all…AUReTi

* * *

**Act 01: Get Real**

He is her boyfriend.

Yes, he is. He picks her up from home and sends her home as well. They eat lunch together as possible as they could. They study their lessons together in either house---are those all?

Tifa rested her chin on her palm while her elbow rested on her desk.

She was spacing out for a couple of minutes now as Math class went on. Her eyes are focused on the blackboard but her mind is somewhere in the world.

Someone gave her a nudge.

It was Yuffie Kisaragi, her best friend.

Grinning slowly, she faced her, shifting her head's position.

"Yup?" she asked cheerfully.

Yuffie glanced at their professor first before proceeding to tell her something. Fortunately, the professor was on his back for he was writing lectures on the board. She turned to Tifa once again and gave her a perplexed look.

"You silly girl, do you know what you're doing?" she asked her in a low voice.

"Huh?" Tifa asked.

Yuffie shook her head in disbelief. She heaved a sigh and leaned in closer.

"How is Reno doing?" she asked.

Tifa shrugged, her smile unwavering from her luscious lips. "I think he's fine. When we went to school together this morning, he seems to be fine."

Yuffie cringed, finding Tifa's answer dumb.

Tifa Lockheart is the volleyball club vice captain and one of the top students in her class. She is very charming and cheerful as well but something seems to go wrong---why did she fall for Reno, the resident redheaded bad guy?

The professor turned his attention from the blackboard to his class.

Yuffie immediately retreated and sat back comfortably on her seat.

Tifa didn't look disturbed at all. She wasn't guilty of what she was _doing_.

She didn't fall for Reno.

Reno liked her for the longest time. He was a bit dimwitted but he's part of the school's rock band as the vocalist. He's somebody you can never bring home to your mom.

However, Tifa liked Reno's frank attitude. He was never a phony.

But then…it seems that she never thoroughly gave her heart to him.

Tifa doodled on her notebook absently, quite bored of actually staring at the blackboard for no apparent reason. She was getting more irate about how slow the time is lately and it really bothered her. She wasn't really _that_impatient.

Maybe because she's bound to find somebody when lunch break starts. Is it Reno?

Or is it Cloud Strife?

"Nah…" Tifa murmured, sticking her tongue out.

She didn't mean to make Cloud jealous---it's just a spur in a moment. She just accepted him as a boyfriend for a random reason.

Maybe because Reno's quite cool.

Maybe because Reno's good-looking.

Or maybe because Reno's redheaded!

A smirk crept into Tifa's lips, finding her last thought weird and non-sensible. It was really dumb…but it's partly true. He became her boyfriend with no valid or true reason. Is she _that_cruel?

The school bell rang, filling the corridors with noises of excitement.

As Tifa was standing from her seat, Yuffie called her for a while.

"Hm?" she asked, turning her attention to her.

"Are you seriously using Reno as a cover-up boyfriend?" her cute and childish best friend asked, genuinely looking at her suspiciously.

"I never said that, Yuffie-chan…I never did," Tifa said, twisting her statement.

Yuffie heaved a tired sigh. "Do you think I'm stupid not to notice it? It's like, you _try _to enjoy every bit of time you're with him when you really don't feel it."

Tifa, getting frustrated of where this conversation is going, rolled her eyes and sagged her head a little.

"For the last time, I'm not using Reno," Tifa tried to end. "If you still want to have lunch---with me---then let's go outside and buy some food."

Giving up, Yuffie agreed, grabbing her purse from her schoolbag.

* * *

When the school bell rang for lunch break, Reno expected his upperclassmen to wait for him by the corridor.

He wasn't that close to his classmates or the people from his batch. He usually spends his time with his friends from his band, The Turks.

"Reno-kun!" Elena, a shorthaired, blonde woman, called him across the corridor. She was with Rude (a big, bald guy) and Tseng, their other band members.

He approached them, casually walking towards their direction.

"'Sup, zo to (yo)?" he asked the three.

"Let's go get something to eat," Rude, the man assigned to the drums, said.

"Whoa, lunch break is a long time, Rude," Tseng, the man who plays the electric guitar commented.

Reno laughed at the sight of Tseng actually warning Rude not to take time eating lunch for the whole period. He cast Elena a smile, silently telling her that her boyfriend is at it again.

Elena is Tseng's boyfriend but he sure doesn't act like it.

She rolled her eyes, hitting Reno on his head.

"Ow! That hurts!" he cried as his hand quickly flew over his head.

As they were about to exit the corridors, Elena's sight lingered to the two ladies chatting by the staircase.

"Your girlfriend," Elena said, motioning Reno to come after her.

Reno slowly turned his attention to Tifa, seemingly reluctant.

Rude and Tseng looked at each other knowingly. Rude shrugged, letting Tseng speak on behalf of the both of them.

"Did you have a fight?" he asked.

"…No," Reno answered, his eyes still on Tifa.

"Then why do you look so stupid?" Elena asked frankly.

Reno frowned at her childishly. Rude laughed at Elena's comment.

"I saw you together this morning," Rude said. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong? You've only been dating for two months, right?"

Reno sighed heavily, looking up at the three of them with a forced grin. "Let's eat, I'm starving."

He head out of the way first, as if he's telling them to follow.

The three looked at each other in a worried fashion, knowing what had happened before Reno and Tifa got together.

* * *

"_Maybe we should break up," Cloud said gravely, looking at the ground uneasily as he was saying these words._

_Tifa almost jerked from her seat. What was he saying? Is he out of his mind? Did she do something wrong? Or maybe he doesn't really like her all along?_

_Cloud slowly looked up, facing his best friend and at the same time, girlfriend._

"_It's not your fault…" he assured._

_She lifted her hand up, trying to caress his cheek but Cloud took a hold of it. He brought it over his lips and gave it a quick kiss._

"_I didn't mean to hurt you…it just came around…I know how long we've spent caring for each other and now it seems like I'm wasting it," he said, his hand still holding hers._

_Tifa quickly withdrew her hand._

"_What-What don't I have that Aeris has?" she asked somberly, her eyes gradually stinging from the tears welling up in them._

"_It's not right to ask such thing," he softly said, his eyes not meeting hers._

_She stood up from her seat and stormed out of the café._

"Tifa-chan!" a voice called.

Tifa snapped, realizing that she has been spacing out again.

Yuffie placed the tip of her index finger over her forehead. A split-second later, she was using it to give her head a couple of pushes.

"You're spacing out again," she told her.

"I wasn't…I was just sleepy," Tifa covered up.

Yuffie stuck out her tongue. "You're such a bad liar."

Tifa frowned, upset that she came across that thought. It has been two months since the incident and she didn't like the fact that it still drops by her thoughts every now and then.

Cloud Strife and Aeris Gainsborough belong to the same class. She sees them together once in a while. They eat their lunch in the school garden, they love studying in the library together and they both belong to the Art Club.

It frustrates her that the two of them share a lot in common.

"Having a boyfriend sucks, don't you think Ms. Perfect Tifa?" Yuffie spoke.

Tifa raised a brow. "Ms. Perfect Tifa? Where in the world did you get that nickname?"

"You're beautiful, you're smart, you're an athlete---aren't those enough?" Yuffie jeered jokingly.

Tifa gave her a funny yet clever look. "So you mean having a crush with Vincent Valentine sucks?"

Yuffie blushed, her face growing warm as Tifa spoke of a certain senior. "He's out of our topic! It's not like I dream of actually becoming his girlfriend."

"Yeah right."

"Don't mock me, Tifa. I'm warning you."

"You started it."

"But isn't it funny how Reno acted different when he's with you lately?" Yuffie said, stirring the direction of their conversation in a complete 180-degree turn.

Tifa absently looked at the people around them. Some are in love, some enjoy being single and some looked as if they were dreaming of having someone to be their partner. Tifa and Reno's case is questionable.

During the first month of their relationship, they enjoy bickering at each other. They have these silly verbal spars every once in a while and then, in a matter of minutes, they're already cuddling each other---hugging and kissing playfully.

But when the corresponding month came, Reno seemed to act so far away. It seems that the things he usually do---picking up and dropping her to her house---are slowly turning into a routine.

They still kiss and hug but the excitement is not there. Tifa didn't feel a change in her but with Reno.

Reno was usually aggressive with her but as the weeks went by, he seemed to be depressed of something.

The school bell rang, pertaining that the lunch break has ended.

"Let's return," Tifa said, standing up quickly from her seat with Yuffie tailing her lead.

As they were walking upstairs, the two of them fell silent. It was partly because Tifa was contemplating on something and because Yuffie felt awkward of actually bringing up the topic to her---troubling Tifa even more.

"Um…" Yuffie spoke.

Tifa continued to walk.

She didn't seem to hear her so Yuffie decided to discontinue what she was about to tell her.

* * *

"Remember to bring your canvas and palettes tomorrow," Mr. Morii, their Art Teacher and also their last period teacher, reminded.

He proceeded to dismiss the class after reminding them of what to bring tomorrow.

After fixing her things, Tifa ran for the door.

"Tifa-chan! Wait!" Yuffie called.

"Sorry, Yuffie-chan!" she apologized. "I have to catch up with somebody."

Yuffie sighed, a soft smile slowly appearing on her lips. She figured it was somebody important---_currently_ important.

* * *

"We'll be heading off," Rude said. "You still have to pick up Lockheart-san in her classroom."

Reno gave him a casual nod. "Sure."

"Bye kiddo," Tseng said after he, Elena and Rude disappeared in the corridor.

Reno returned to his seat and grabbed his school bag. As he exited his classroom, a hand held his arm gently and rather softly.

He immediately turned to see who it was.

To his surprise, it was somebody he least expected to do such thing.

"Reno-kun," Tifa said, breathless but is struggling to smile.

"Yo," he responded. "I didn't expect you'd come here…"

She clutched her arm around his, her smile unwavering from her lips.

"Let's go," she said.

"Tifa-chan…" he spoke absently.

Tifa looked up at him cheerfully. "I have no varsity meeting today. Do you want to eat ice cream…or some burgers, perhaps?"

"Why---?"

"Or do you want to stay at my house for a while?"

Reno seemed to be disturbed by her actions. There's never been a time when she was this initiative or even aggressive to him. It has always been him.

He looked around, searching for somebody. He was just making sure if the rumors he has been hearing was true.

"Who are you looking for?" Tifa asked.

He looked down at her, giving her a stiff look.

"I was just thinking if Cloud is here or not," he frankly replied.

Tifa knitted her brows in perplex. "Huh?"

Reno looked away. "You're using me, aren't you?"

"Reno-kun---"

"Just tell me if you are…it's okay with me. As long as I'm your boyfriend, it'll be enough."

"Reno-kun!"

It was a stern call.

Tifa was glaring at him.

Reno moved away from her.

"I don't want you to think that I'm a cruel person!"

"I don't think of you that way…it's because I love you…"

"I'm not using you!"

"Are you sure?" Reno asked out of the blue.

Tifa's heart raced.

_What is he saying?_

* * *

Author's Notes: I enjoyed writing this story. I hope you liked it as much as I did. I'd appreciate if you leave a review…

Jaa,

3 dien.


	2. Act Two: Something's Wrong

**Worth**

dien04neko

_Disclaimer: I disclaim Final Fantasy VII and its characters. (Unfortunately) They are not mine---because they belong to Square©._

* * *

**Act Two: Something's Wrong**

Reno and Tifa walked together in silence. They were heading for Tifa's house and neither of the two has spoken a word.

A few meters away from the Lockheart residence, Tifa stopped on her tracks, her head looking stiff at the ground as she did.

Reno stopped either, a few inches in front of her.

"Why did you stop?" he asked, not turning to look back at her.

Tifa slowly looked up, hoping he'd turn to look at her.

"Why…why did you come up with such conclusion?" she asked quietly, her hands limp on both her sides. "Do you honestly believe that?"

Finally, he turned to face her. He wasn't in his usual cheerful mood.

"What if I do?" he replied.

Tifa looked away. "Honestly…I'm not sure of what I feel for you either."

Reno smirked, half-heartedly stifling a laugh. "Really now?"

Tifa stared off at the opposite direction, still avoiding his intense gaze. She knew for sure that she wasn't falling for him nor is she actually smitten by him. What she's sure of is she's afraid of feeling guilty in the end. She didn't want to be blamed of anything stupid yet she knew how stupid _she _was in the first place.

Reno walked towards her.

She still didn't look at him.

As soon as he was in ample distance from her, he brought his hand over her cheek and gave it a soft caress, as if he adores the smoothness of her perfectly fair skin.

"Yo," he whispered.

She slowly turned to him.

"I'll play your game," he softy said, a genuine smirk plastered on his lips. "If by any chance, you decide to stop it, I'll gladly accept it, Tifa-chan."

"What---"

He immediately pressed his lips against hers, stopping her from asking questions for he believes that it's now his turn to explain what he feels and what he literally has in mind.

As soon as he pulled off, he stared down at her.

"Since I agreed on being your cover-up boyfriend…just to get over somebody…whatever happens, I'll take it as it is," Reno said, his hand still touching Tifa's cheek.

He slowly retreated his hand from her face and planted a small kiss on her forehead. Reno walked past her, having no intentions of looking back whether she stops her or not.

* * *

"Okaeri," her father cheerfully greeted as Tifa took a step on their residence's doorstep.

She looked up, forcing a grin from her lips. "Ta-tadaima."

Her father was already dressed in his working clothes. He's a medical technician in a private hospital and his shift is usually at night, leaving her alone with her brother at night. She has been experiencing this since she first started junior high---the year her mother died of some congenital disease.

She gave him a brief, polite nod and walked over the staircase.

"Oneechan," a small voice called.

Tifa turned, finding her sickly brother on top of the staircase.

Reportedly, Denzel is asthmatic. He inherited his sickly nature from their mother. He is currently twelve years old, supposedly a sixth grader but he has to stop school this year because he needs rest over fatigue.

She grinned at him softly and turned to her dad. "Ne, bye dad. Take care."

"Bye dad!" Denzel bid as well.

Their father gave them both a grin and left the house with his usual cheery face.

As soon as he did, Tifa began to frown gravely, concerning Denzel.

"Are you sad?" he asked.

"No, I'm just…" but she trailed off, finding the appropriate words to say. She is not depressed nor is she mad…but then it struck her. She might be feeling the least thing she had wanted to feel from the beginning---guilt.

"Ne, oneechan," Denzel called. "I want to see Cloud soon…I want to play some video games with him again! It's been weeks since he last visited here."

Cloud is very close to Tifa's family. He has planted his presence in her father and most especially, her dearest brother. Since the both of them have known each other since they were very small, Cloud has been part of their life.

Though, there are bitter moments between the two of them when they were very young. Tifa got into an accident that caused her to fall into a coma for a week. Cloud blamed himself for the accident since Tifa's father seemed to blame him for it.

So, when Tifa recovered, he promised to be her _knight_. Somehow, he did become a knight…but Clous found himself another princess to protect.

Tifa snapped out of a sudden---surprised of falling into such reverie.

"I'll be having a rest," Tifa told Denzel. "Dad seemed to cook supper. I smell food from the dining room. Eat well, okay?"

Upon saying this, she disappeared into her room.

* * *

Reno kicked his small end table off as soon as he got into his room. He was living alone in a small apartment, his trustworthy uncle paying for his daily expenses.

He was orphaned at a very young age. His uncle, his mother's only brother, took him in and is now residing in Kobe for he is destined in that place. His uncle treated him as his own son since he has no family yet.

Reno slumped against the wall, slowly sagging.

He buried his head on his hands as he started to sob in a throbbing manner. It hurt him so much to be in a situation where he's Tifa's number 2. He didn't know if Tifa was telling the truth or if his instinct is the one that is trying to show him how stupid he was.

Nonetheless, he accepted the challenge to be her cover-up even though he's not sure if Tifa was treating him that _way_.

"Kuso," he cursed in a low tone.

* * *

_Reno stood trembling in front of the cool, calm and collected Tifa as he stuttered to tell her something. His hands were uneasy, rubbing against each other in a perturbed fashion. His eyes weren't on hers, anxious if she would reject him._

"_I..Tifa-san," he started._

_Tifa continued to stare at his state._

"_I know I'm cool and handsome," Reno started, slowly regaining confidence as he started to look up at her. "So if you reject me, it'd be a shame for an intelligent woman like you."_

_Yes, she was an honor student and the volleyball team's vice captain. He has often wondered why a rebel rock star like him would ever want to catch a goody-goody girl's attention._

_Tifa's brow jerked. "Reject you? About what? You barely told me anything at all---and saying that it's a shame for me, rejecting you is actually possible."_

_Reno frowned. "Oh right, I was acting way 'cooler'. Well anyway…I'm here to tell you that I'm…I'm falling…"_

"_Falling…?"_

"_Falling…apart!"_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_I'm falling apart because I can't tell you right away that I love you," Reno quickly confessed, his eyes tightly closed as he was saying this._

_The two of them fell silent._

_And then a few seconds later, a hearty laugh escaped from Tifa's lips._

"_So you want to be my boyfriend?" she asked._

_Reno blushed, a childish frown in his face. "What? You mean it's not obvious?"_

_Tifa sighed. There wasn't any trace of blush or even awkwardness in her face. She wasn't acting strange unlike the other girls. Girls usually blush when guys tell them that they like them---but Tifa acted casual._

_An unexplainable look---of sadness or glumness---came upon her face._

_She looked up, her face suddenly switching into a sweet, positive look._

"_Well then, let's date," she declared._

Furiously, Reno's alarm clock rang on the floor. Why was it there? The end table he knocked over yesterday was the end table that holds the digital alarm clock he has.

His eyes flung open, staring at the blank ceiling before his eyes.

"I have to…pick her up," he told his self out loud.

* * *

"Bye!" Tifa told her father and younger brother. She walked out of the small gate as she decided to proceed on the bench across the street and wait for Reno to come. Upon sitting down, Tifa stared at her cellphone.

She looked at its back. A photo-sticker of her and Reno were attached to it however the marking of an old sticker just peeled off was still visible. She peeled off Cloud and her photo-sticker a few weeks ago after having another one featuring Reno and her.

Reno looked very happy. She looked happy too, however if you look closer, her smile is not as cheerful as Reno's smile in the photo-sticker is.

"Oi," a voice called.

Tifa looked up in an instant.

"Re-Reno-kun," she said, standing up from her seat.

"I see you're looking at our photo-sticker," he said, a smirk in his lips. He pulled out his cellphone and showed her his and her photo-sticker together too. He gave her a wink afterwards.

"Good cover-up plan, huh?" he mocked playfully, leaning close to her.

Tifa frowned. "It's not a cover-up. I want another photo-sticker."

Reno raised his brown. "Zo to (Yo)…we have a lot of copies of that certain sticker…why want another one?"

"Because…" she said, clutching her arm around his. "I want to look good in that sticker, got it?"

"But you already look---"

"What I said is what I said, so let's go to school now," she ordered, pulling him along.

Reno stared at her as she pulled him across the street.

Being number 2 is tolerable for him…as long as Tifa's with him.

As he was bracing his self for school, all he has to think is that he _is _Tifa's boyfriend.

* * *

Author's notes: Chapter 2 up! I hope you had fun…next chapter would be updated in a matter of days…? Or let's say the next chapter would come by Friday. I'm at school so I have to focus on schoolwork more than but honestly, I like this story. Note: it's AU, obviously. 


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